The Baptism of the Lord

BEADS OF JOY 01-12-14
“The Baptism of the Lord”
©2014 James Dacey, Jr. OFS

Today’s Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17 (The Baptism of the Lord) “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."”

My Friends,

Jesus' public life has officially just begun on this day. John the Baptist technically officially ends the Old Testament; and he is the one man God chose to begin the New Testament introducing the world to Jesus. Today’s Gospel is the first Luminous Mystery – The Baptism of Jesus. May our hearts be open to the blessed unceasing love and guidance of the Holy Spirit! It is Baptism of Jesus that fulfilled all righteousness. This is certainly a blessed day to celebrate. And it was here that God spoke not only to Jesus, and to the crowd, but also to us, a voice from Heaven was saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." We can also see how the combination of water and Spirit, bring about our cleansing from the old to the new, of who we are now in Jesus. As the Old Testament comes to a close to begin Jesus' public life into the New Testament; so to do our lives close and end our old ways of what was, so that we are cleansed in our new way of life in the Spirit. Jesus by example shows us how to begin again, begin a new, start over right in God's sight, doing the will of the Father.

We must humble ourselves before our Lord, with an open heart and open mind to be like Jesus; in the sense that we to need cleansing to begin again, in His sight and before the world. God has a plan for each of us, just as He had and still has for Jesus. I say, don't care what other people think about, don't ever care about what other people say, about you. Only God will judge our actions, our intentions, our hearts and our souls; He knows why we say and do the things we do. Our hearts must be aligned with His will, then our Spirit will help lead us in the direction we must go. On this very day Jesus was baptized a new to begin; He was also baptized a new to die for all our sins. As in Jesus' purpose and will to do God's will, God has a plan for all of us and a will that we must seek out and follow. This is why we must not bog down our lives with the frivolous meaningless junk this world is so full of.

Like our Lord's heart was open to fulfill God's will at His baptism, and the Heavens were open to Him and the Spirit came down upon Him; we too must do the same. It's all been laid out for us to follow. Open your hearts and don't allow anyone or anything to distract you from moving forward in this amazing blessed cleansing. The only way we can change, is through God's love and cleansing of our Spirit; and in doing so our Spirit will come alive, and won't be able to shut up, all you will want to do is share Jesus with everybody. I will be the first to attest that once the fire for Jesus is lite inside you and you openly, willingly, freely allow Jesus to run free inside; you will not want to waste any of your time with the things of this world. Take possession of His love, His promises, His forgiveness, His grace, His mercy, His blessings, and then grab His gospel and then embed it into your heart, and then live it each day fulfilling it and sharing it with everyone.

Today let us ask our Lord to open our hearts and lives fully to His will. Let us have Jesus rule our lives, bringing to life our Spirit within, which will not only be thrilled about God's will, but will also help us see and understand God's will. A new beginning is what today is all about. Wipe the slate clean and begin again, God loves a clean blackboard, so that He can write His gospel, His word on the hearts and minds of those who love Him.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
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Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS

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